1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention relate to electronic percussion instruments.
2. Related Technology
Conventional electronic musical instruments provide sampling of waveforms. Typically a waveform number is associated with a sample waveform to identify the sampled waveform.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication (Kokai) Number Hei 08-76763 teaches an electronic musical instrument in which an external waveform is sampled, the sampling data are stored in a waveform memory, and the sampled waveform can be auditioned. To store sampled data, the user selects a waveform number for the sampled waveform before the sampling data can be written to the waveform memory, and the waveform data is stored in association with that waveform number. To audition a sampled waveform, the user operates an audition key that corresponds to the waveform number of the sampled waveform, and the waveform data that corresponds to the audition key are read out. However, to store sampled data, the user must first determine an unused waveform number that can be used for the new sampled data. Further, to audition a sampled waveform, the user must first set up an audition key so that it will reproduce the waveform having a given waveform number.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication (Kokai) Number Sho 58-118699 teaches an electronic percussion instrument in which waveform data that have been assigned to respective pads are reproduced upon striking of the pads. In this instrument, sets of waveform data are associated in a group referred to as a patch, and to reduce memory requirements, the patch stores the waveform numbers of the individual waveforms rather than the sampled waveform data. However, in this device, in order to determine the patch and pad to which a waveform is assigned, it is necessary to strike every pad in order to hear the waveforms, or to sequentially read information about each of the patches from a display. Thus it can be difficult to locate a particular waveform among many patches.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication (Kokai) Number Hei 11-133968 teaches an electronic musical instrument in which sample waveform data can be stored in a waveform memory. The device is configured such that when a “recording stop” button is operated by the operator during the sampling of the waveform data, recording continues for a fixed amount of time referred to as a stop delay time, after which recording is stopped. However, the stop point becomes the end address of the waveform data, and since the stop delay time is arbitrary with respect to the musical time of the sampled waveform, it is difficult to stop the recording process such that the end address of the sampled waveform occurs at a musically appropriate position. Consequently, the user must typically edit the sampled waveform data after sampling to cut the waveform data at a position that is musically appropriate for the waveform. This is particularly complex when the waveform has a rhythm that comprises a complicated beat or a plurality of bars.